


A Tale of Law-Breaking (and Being in Love)

by jusrecht



Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ, JYJ (Band), Super Junior
Genre: Alternate Universe - Victorian, M/M, butchering everything victorian, just because, more like fail victorian AU tho, oh and TONS of ChangKyu BFF-ness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-24
Updated: 2014-09-24
Packaged: 2018-02-18 14:53:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2352350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jusrecht/pseuds/jusrecht
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Victorian AU] Changmin is a police inspector. Junsu is a murder suspect. Not exactly the best combination.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Tale of Law-Breaking (and Being in Love)

**Author's Note:**

> A birthday gift (okay one month late) for my dearest sister who loves MinSu so much. I'm sorry if this is so much fail ;;  
>  ****

 

Changmin scoffed at the notion of love at first sight the way normal adults scoffed at the notion of the tooth fairy.

Then he met Kim Junsu—and his entire world turned upside down and screwed itself six ways to hell.

 

-

 

"I thought we're not supposed to fall in love with a potential suspect."

If he could strangle his grinning colleague to death and get away with it, Changmin totally would. As it was, Kyuhyun was a valuable asset of the London Metropolitan Police, and despite all the rapid progress of today's era, murder still carried the weight of capital punishment.

Which was unfortunate.

"I'm not falling in love." And so Changmin was reduced to pointless denials, an object to further ridicules by the devil incarnate that was his best friend.

"Oh, of course, I forgot that you _already_ fell in love." Kyuhyun snickered. "My bad."

"You don't know what pain is, do you?"

"Not that it's a bad thing," Kyuhyun continued, completely ignoring his (futile) threat. "In fact, you can dig things out of him more easily—and _far_ more thoroughly—if you become, say, his lover."

"We, asshole. You're in this as much as I am."

Kyuhyun gave him a look of exaggerated shock. "Why, Min, I'm flattered by the offer, but honestly the idea of a threesome with you is about as tempting as sleeping with a cow–"

That was when Changmin lunged at him and made him pay.

 

-

 

The thing was that, of course, Kyuhyun was not entirely wrong.

That was to say, he was completely right and Changmin had fallen in love with the chief suspect in their murder case. 

Kim Junsu was a rising stage actor who would have claimed centre stage if not for the existence of another genius actor. And four days ago, this other actor had been found dead in the backstage of the Adelphi.

Changmin would have been an idiot not to suspect Kim Junsu.

Then again, he was already an idiot for falling for Kim Junsu, as his eternally irritating best friend kept pointing out.

It didn't help that even after four days, his heart remained uncooperative. It jumped, raced, quivered, and behaved in the most ridiculous fashion when Changmin came face-to-face with the suspect once more. The interrogation was a complete mess—which Junsu, caught in his own anxiety, thankfully did not seem to notice. He answered the questions timidly, with the softest voice Changmin's ears had had the privilege to hear, and this sentiment probably showed on his face because next to him Kyuhyun was smirking like the little lunatic he was.

"So you profess no knowledge at all of Mr Wilde's decision to choose Mr Park instead of you to play the lead role in his new play?"

Junsu looked at him helplessly. 

Kyuhyun was cackling silently. 

Changmin wanted to destroy the world.

 

-

 

"The problem is," Kyuhyun told him when they went to get something to eat, "there is no other suspect."

Changmin mulled on this bit of wisdom, munching on his meat pie thoughtfully.

Then he spent the next three days and nights looking for suspects, dragging his grumbling friend with him.

 

-

 

They found several other suspects.

To be precise, _too_ many other suspects. The deceased actor, they soon discovered, was pretty much universally disliked off the stage. Petty feuds and deep grudges surrounded him as much as admirers did, and these were all fruits ripe for the picking.

However another problem soon presented itself when these potential suspects proved themselves to have ironclad alibis. 

Except for Junsu.

Who was growing increasingly hopeless with each passing day. His artistic soul that shone on stage was far too sensitive to bear the harsh conditions in the lock-up. The look on his face whenever Changmin came for a visit (further interrogations, as he insisted to call it) was almost too painful to see.

"Everyone thinks I'm guilty," Junsu said plaintively. There was no angry accusation in his eyes, only sad resignation. "You also think I'm guilty, don't you?" 

"No." Changmin found the word on his lips before he could consider the wisdom of such an answer. A prejudiced opinion was fatal to an investigation, as he very well knew.

One look at Junsu's face, however, was all it took to render anything else but that flicker of hope irrelevant.

"Really?" Junsu's voice was faint, like it was almost too much for him to hope. 

"Yes, and I'm going to prove it," Changmin vowed, to himself and to this man who had stolen his heart.

 

\- 

 

The first time Changmin saw Junsu was when he had come to arrest him.

Junsu was on stage, a noble, valiant Macduff. Changmin was never a fan of Shakespeare, but he stood at the wing, entranced, as line after line poured from Junsu's lips, his voice a clear, sonorous peal in the vaulted space.

Something was at work, at that moment in time. Soon it was the end of the fifth act, but the performance left Changmin reeling and more than a little heartbroken. When he stepped forward to introduce himself and make the arrest, he knew at once that he was making a mistake.

Junsu was not a murderer. He was innocent.

 

-

 

The grand jury, however, thought otherwise.

Evidence upon evidence was brought forth. Witnesses were called. The prosecutor was both eloquent and passionate, winning the sour-faced gentlemen of the jury almost right from the start as he wove a riveting tale from the gristly, sensational details of the (horribly unjust!) murder.

Changmin refused to despair. When he was called up to the witness box, he launched into a heartfelt, full-throttle defence of the accused. He offered no less than a dozen other possible suspects—which didn't exactly endear him to the jury, who were fast becoming tired of his repetitive statements. With every snubbed explanation, desperation began to set in. His oratory became more and more heated, and finally escalated to a point where the magister ordered him to be expelled from the courtroom.

Changmin spent the remaining of the proceeding outside, kicking at walls and potted plants. Only when the verdict was about to be delivered that he was admitted into the courtroom once more.

The magister, solemn in black robe, declared the accused to be guilty.

Changmin's heart shattered into a million pieces.

 

-

 

The next course of action, as it came naturally enough to Changmin's desperate mind, was to break the love of his life out of prison.

 

-

 

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Say the person who's dating the most notorious persona in London."

Kyuhyun scowled. " _You_ helped a condemned criminal _escape_ from prison."

"He's innocent."

Kyuhyun threw his hands up in exasperation and turned toward the third man in the room—who happened to be the owner of the house they were in right now. 

Choi Siwon was, at best, an eccentric duke with contradictory reputations. Still distantly related to the House of Hanover, he was not only obscenely rich, but also devastatingly attractive. Speculative gossips and news articles always followed his public appearances, and yet, despite being a personal favourite of the Queen, he wore mystery around him like a tightly drawn cloak. 

Under normal circumstances, there would be no way for Shim Changmin, an ordinary police inspector, to form any sort of connection with the eminent man. 

At least that had been so until a year ago, when Choi Siwon, for some reasons which remained unfathomable to this day, developed some unusual (and definitely unhealthy) attraction to his best friend.

Not that Changmin had any qualm in exploiting this so-called attraction to serve his own end. 

"You don't have to do anything," he said imploringly. "Just let him stay in your house until I can get a definite proof of his innocence. Milord," he added

Siwon's lips twitched. "To be perfectly honest, I have no objection," he replied casually. "But only if Kyuhyun gives his consent first."

Changmin attempted his most beseeching look at his best friend, who was now glaring at his lover/admirer/inamorato/whatever they were.

"If we were discovered, it would be your head on this."

"Your concern is appreciated but unnecessary," Siwon said with a shrug. "You know perfectly well that I am untouchable. However, it will be very different if the subject of the discussion is your safety." He now turned to Changmin, who was still standing meekly at the side. "This friend of yours may stay under my protection, but keep Kyuhyun out of this."

Changmin grimaced. He still remembered the last time Kyuhyun had got shot working on a case—and the hellfire that soon followed once Choi Siwon had learned about it. It was not an experience which he was keen to repeat.

His opinion, however, proved to matter very little, because at the next second Kyuhyun already snapped, "Not a chance."

This made the duke frown. "Your safety is no small matter."

"In case you've forgotten, I'm a fucking police inspector. This is what I do."

"I don't care. You will not get involved until your friend catches the person responsible for the murder."

Kyuhyun scoffed. "And if I choose to ignore _Your Grace_ 's order?" he sneered.

Siwon's eyes narrowed. "I will tie you down if I have to."

"I'd like to see you _try_."

Both fell silent afterwards, but the glaring contest continued for close to a minute before Siwon finally ended it by abruptly rising to his feet.

"Do what you want," he muttered and left the room, slamming the door in his wake.

Still frowning slightly, Kyuhyun turned toward Changmin and shrugged.

"You heard him."

 

-

 

"Is this really alright?"

Changmin looked at Junsu—who was still standing in the middle of the room fidgeting—and smiled. They were in one of many guest bedrooms of the manor, pleasantly warm and comfortably furnished. "You'll be safe here," he assured the actor. "No one can touch Choi Siwon."

"I meant for you." Junsu said quietly. He looked tired and haggard. All the pressure from the criminal proceedings had taken huge tolls on him. "You're a police officer. What you're doing-"

"Don't worry about it," Changmin interrupted him. "I _know_ for sure that you are innocent. It's my job to discover the truth—and how to prove it."

"But you are risking too much," Junsu insisted.

Changmin raked his hair in frustration. "You don't understand, do you?"

"Understand what?"

Heart beating wildly in his chest, Changmin took a deep breath. "I'd move heaven and earth to save you," he said solemnly, trying to ignore all the emotions that threatened to burst out. "And I'll do it again, and again, and again, until you're proven innocent."

Junsu was silent for a long time, only staring at him with a kind of wide-eyed wonder that sent Changmin's heart once more all aflutter. When he finally spoke, his voice quivered and he looked like he was about to cry.

"Thank you." 

Changmin managed a quick, awkward smile as he squeezed Junsu's hand. "Like I said, don't worry about it too much. We'll get there in the end."

"I wonder," Junsu said quickly when he pulled away to leave, "if there's anything I can do to repay your kindness-"

A frown instantly came to Changmin's face. "To repay me?" he repeated in disbelief, half angry, half disappointed. "Don't talk as if I'm doing this because I want something—a damn _payment_ —from you,"

A look of panic crossed Junsu's face. "No, no, I didn't mean it like that. I'm not trying to insult you, but... I'm just truly grateful, so if there is anything—anything at all..."

Changmin allowed himself a few moments to calm his conflicting emotions. If he were to be perfectly, _perfectly_ honest, he could think of millions of ways to exploit Junsu's offer; but merely the fact that he was _thinking_ about it already disgusted him so much that he literally shied away from it. 

"It's really not necessary," he finally said in a gruff voice after a prolonged, awkward silence.

Junsu looked disappointed, but resigned. "Well, if you can think of something, then you'll let me know?" 

And at that moment, Changmin knew exactly what he wanted. 

"Maybe there's something." He hesitated, smiling bashfully. "It's silly, but the first time I saw you, you were performing on a stage. Maybe you can- I mean, if you don't mind, can you recite some of the lines from your role in that Shakespeare drama—what was it, again—Macbeth? Just a few lines. It doesn't have to be a serious performance."

How little did he know Junsu, Changmin realised one minute later as he sat entranced in one of the chairs in the room. The man was not only a gifted actor, but also a very thorough one. Gone was the defeated, terrified murder suspect, replaced by a man who shone on whichever stage he chose to step onto. There, in the closed space foreign to either of them, his voice echoed clear and strong, swallowing the drumming rain outside—and Changmin found himself falling in love for the second time.

 

-

 

Despite his boundless optimism in front of Junsu, Changmin fully realised that the truth was nowhere as rosy.

For one, quite a few people suspected him in having a hand in the prison break. Which was why when his own fellow police officers came knocking at his door, Changmin quickly escaped through a back window. He spent the next three weeks being a fugitive from justice while trying to pursue his own version of justice. With Kyuhyun (who flat-out refused to leave him alone), he dove into the murkiness of London's underbelly, following cooling trails through the dirty streets of Whitechapel and the smoky haze of opium dens. 

And all they led into was more confusion.

"Were getting nowhere," Changmin grumbled as they were trudging back from yet another wet, rat-infested adventure, drenched to the bone from the rain.

Kyuhyun, who had been silent for the last half an hour or so since their miraculous escape from a group of hostile ruffians, suddenly spoke, "Let's just ask him." 

"Him?"

Kyuhyun turned and watched him from under wet, unruly bangs. "In three weeks, we've followed trails that led us to countless pubs and whorehouses and opium dens and shady shipping companies and who-knows-how-many back-alley shops—and, for some reason the Opera Comique in Westminster. Either this is a wild-goose chase or an invisible connection actually exists between these random places, so let's just ask your boyfriend in case he knows something."

Changmin was torn between an overwhelming need to deny Junsu's alleged status and an overwhelming need to dive into the nearest chip shop. Being cold, tired, starving, and in denial all at once was not a good combination, and unthinkingly he blurted out, "Don't involve him in this."

Kyuhyun shot him an incredulous look. "What?" 

Changmin swallowed, and then grabbed the first coherent thought that entered his head. "He's a fugitive. In fact, they're looking for him to _kill_ him. I'm not going to risk his getting involved. No way."

Kyuhyun immediately flared. "All we're going to do is ask him! One question if you think two are too many. Do you think he'll drop dead if he so much as _try_ to answer?"

"But what if he-"

"Besides," Kyuhyun continued, ignoring his pathetic attempt of disputing, "the real murderer deliberately framed your boyfriend. There's a good chance that he knows him."

"But if he finds out that we're onto him-"

"And we'll get some decent food there," Kyuhyun finally used his ace card.

Changmin stared at him, then closed his mouth with a scowl.

 

-

 

The decision to return to the manor turned out to be a wise one.

Not only that they got themselves a hot bath and a sumptuous supper, Kyuhyun's assumption turned out to be correct. Junsu was able to make a connection of all the haphazard clues they had gathered so far. 

The only downside was: he refused to give a name unless he could come with them.

"This is too dangerous for you," Changmin desperately pointed out.

"For once I agree with him," Kyuhyun added. "You'll be safer here, considering your circumstances."

"I'm going with you," Junsu said adamantly. "Or I'm going alone."

During moments like this, Changmin couldn't help but wish that Siwon were around instead of going abroad for some clandestine business in Belgium. The duke would've been able to put his weight down on the matter—with the aid of his many servants if necessary.

But he wasn't and Changmin was forced to watch helplessly as his legions of well-meant remonstrance sputtered into silence in front of Junsu's wall of stubbornness. 

"I'm going with you," the actor repeated calmly.

Exasperated, Changmin threw a glare at his best friend—who, in his opinion, was the cause of this catastrophe. Kyuhyun, however, was too occupied with staring thoughtfully at Junsu to notice.

"May I know why?" 

"I deserve to know the truth," was the defensive answer.

A slow smirk spread across Kyuhyun's face. "That, you do, but that's not the whole reason, is it?"

A blush bloomed on Junsu's cheeks—and Changmin found himself too busy gaping at the implication to care about anything else.

 

-

 

Two hours later found them crowding behind a closed costermonger stall, spying at a deserted alleyway behind the Opera Comique.

And Changmin was having some difficulty focusing on the task at hand due to the fact that Junsu was pressed against his back.

"It's Thursday," Junsu whispered (practically down his neck). "He'll still be here, usually with an actress or a singer, but I've seen him going about with a group of strange from time to time."

"Who is _he_?" Kyuhyun hissed in front of Changmin's left ear.

Before Junsu could answer, the side door of the theatre swung open, revealing—just as he had said—a group of men. The three of them fell silent at once, watching as the group conversed among themselves, and then started to disperse. 

At that moment, someone—either Junsu or Kyuhyun—stepped into a puddle of rainwater.

The men stopped. Changmin's heart stopped. 

Then they saw him.

What happened during the next five minutes was a bit of a blur for Changmin. He remembered reaching into his pocket for his pistol, but the group already opened fire first before he could do much else. He heard Kyuhyun's cursing aloud and felt Junsu's fingers clutching at his back as they crouched even lower behind the stall. Fingers shaking slightly, he shot once, twice, thrice, counting the bullets frantically in his head. Next to him, Kyuhyun had started firing too. 

Between them, they managed to incapacitate four out of seven before running out of bullets. The remaining three were clearly not giving up, but Changmin knew that he and Kyuhyun could pretty much hold their own ground at any hand-to-hand combat. Confidence rising, he lunged at the nearest one and soon he was too busy throwing punches and evading slashes of knives to care about anything else.

After what felt like hundreds of blows, two of them finally decided to flee. Changmin paused to catch his breath and check his surrounding. Three were unconscious. Two were still writhing and groaning but otherwise unable to move. Kyuhyun, he noticed with some relief, was muttering and cursing at one of them. 

Changmin looked around once more—and that was when he realised that Junsu had disappeared.

"Where-"

"He's going after someone," Kyuhyun told him, nodding toward the narrow street leading away from the theatre. "Go. I'll stay here and watch these guys."

Changmin was about to rush off when he noticed the way his friend was clutching his left arm. "Wait. Kyu, are you-"

"I'm fine," Kyuhyun interrupted him with a scowl. "The wound is superficial. And you're _letting_ him go."

"You're injured! What-"

" _Go_!" Kyuhyun snapped. Changmin cursed under his breath and finally allowed his feet to go after Junsu, shouting all the way at his best friend to keep himself alive or Changmin would personally bring him hell, dead or alive.

In the swirling fog, the chase was challenging at best. At worst, it could as well be useless. Changmin began to feel dread wrapping its icy fingers around his throat as he followed endless turns and narrowing paths in the murky darkness.

He might lose them both. The suspect and Junsu. _Junsu._

Changmin stopped, a frustrated scream in his throat. Around him was only degrees of darkness. In this fog, the moonlight was feeble at best and this area of the city was too poor to afford an artificial substitute. He tried to listen, but the sound of his heartbeat and panting breath filled his ears. 

At the next second, he already found himself falling face first into a puddle of water. 

Someone had tackled him to the ground.

Changmin's first instinct was to push panic out of the way. He had lost his grip around his pistol, but he still had enough strength in his limbs to fight his attacker off him and turn around. Before he could do much else, however, the other man had returned, using his weight to pin Changmin to the ground.

Then a pair of strong hands curled around his neck. Desperately choking him.

Changmin's mind blacked out. All he knew was he had to break free from the chokehold. He thrashed around, limbs flailing helplessly under the other man's bulk. It changed nothing. He was trapped.

For the first time in his life, Changmin found himself truly helpless. His last coherent thought was of the irony that it was him, and not Junsu or Kyuhyun, who would meet his doom first.

He would die.

Die.

That thought splintered. And the next thing he knew, the man had slumped on top of him, unconscious.

Changmin coughed violently, the rush of air into his lungs almost painful. As soon as he could breathe, he pushed the heavy bulk off of him. His eyes were still trying to focus when Junsu's pale face came into view. 

"And that," he told Changmin shakily, fingers white-knuckled around a piece of wood, "is your murderer."

 

-

 

The case made headline news. 

Changmin suddenly found himself at the centre of public attention. The fact that the murderer was a famous playwright who had been slighted by the deceased actor paled in comparison with his tale of adventure—or _tale of law-breaking_ , as his annoyed superior pointed out grimly.

Sufficiently chastised, Changmin attended every trial session faithfully, gave his account truthfully, and answered every question dutifully. He knew that he was fortunate to escape with a reprimand. The next few weeks saw him turning into a model officer of the Law and a perfect English gentleman in every regard.

The trial was a short affair. The case was clear, the verdict just—with or without the help from a certain duke, who had personally made sure that the murderer would hang after committing such crime as inflicting bodily harm to a certain police inspector. For Changmin, however, one thing mattered above all.

Junsu's name was cleared.

They met again after the trial just outside the courtroom, both now men free of persecutions. For the first time since Changmin could remember, Junsu wore a smile that was purely brightness, not a speck of shadow looming over it.

"I don't know how to say thank you enough," he began, voice soft with gratitude.

Changmin put on a solemn face. "I'm not sure. After all, you only saved my life. What is my life compared to clearing your name? Completely negligible."

It finally made Junsu laugh. Changmin grinned at the light, carefree sound, his chest full to the point of bursting. Oh, how in love he was with that sound.

"I wonder." Junsu paused, and then cleared his throat awkwardly, soft pink hues rising to his cheeks. "I wonder if you'd like to have dinner at The Criterion. My treat."

Changmin had to exercise his entire self-restraint not to shout out loud and behave like a certified lunatic. "Only if you agree to catch a show afterwards." He kept his voice at a reasonable level, although the expression on his face was already anything but. "My treat."

The smile Junsu gave him in return was blinding. "A deal it is."

 

**_End_  
**

**Author's Note:**

> I was tempted to make Junsu the real murderer who managed to escape the police in the end, but dear sister doesn't like angst, so..... /bows

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [His Best Friend's Choice](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2382743) by [bl4ckm4lice](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bl4ckm4lice/pseuds/bl4ckm4lice)




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